th you. You
can go your way, and I will go mine."

"But I thought you cared for me," the man replied in surprise.

"Haven't I told you over and over again that I did not? But you would
persist in coming here, nevertheless."

"Do you mean what you say?" Ben asked, while a surly expression leaped
into his eyes.

"Yes, I mean every word. You had better go now, as it will be no use
for you to say anything more."

"Why didn't you tell me this before, Nell?"

"I did, plainer than any words."

"Yes, perhaps you did. But why didn't you speak, and tell me so?"

"There was a reason which it is not necessary for me to explain."

"Ah, I know the reason. I see through your little game now. You were
using me as a tool, that was all. But, damn you, I'll get even with
you. That little matter can soon be attended to, and then you'll find
out your mistake."

Nell's face was very white and strained, and with difficulty she kept
her outward calmness. Had she but realised that eyes glowing with
hatred and jealousy were watching her from the bushes a short distance
away, she would have broken down completely.

"I believe you are capable of doing almost anything, Ben," she replied,
"and accordingly any injury you might do to us and our little home will
be no surprise. I am going back to the house now. It is no use for us
to talk any longer."

Nell moved away from the trees, hoping that Ben would go back the way
he had come. But she was not to get clear of him so easily. He
stepped quickly to her side, and demanded what she meant by the words
she had just uttered.

"Surely you must know," she told him. "If I had the least spark of
affection for you, which I did not have, it would have been quenched by
your action at the dance in the hall, and what you did last night."

"Last night! What did I do last night?"

"You know as well as I do, and I think a great deal better. One who
will hound on others to attack a lone man on a dark night is not worthy
to be called a man, but should be listed with the brutes of the jungle."

An oath leaped from Ben's lips and he gripped Nell by the arm.

"Who told you that?" he growled. "How dare you make such a charge?"

"I dare make it because I know it is true. How I know it is my own
affair. Let go my arm at once, and don't you touch me again."

Nell's eyes were blazing with anger now, and Ben shrank back cowed.
The serpent within him could not endure the righteous indig